she called and whilst she spoke, I drew, pencil on paper, a picture of her face from memory

usually that noise has
me running for cover, it
cuts the silence now, but
today she is calling, and
her voice is welcoming, after
a hard day, fighting
the great tormentor, she
tells me everything, so
eager that she stumbles over
her words, I
smile, tell
her to calm down, but
she can’t, she’s
seen those places written
about in the book, they
are real, it
is fact, it’s
history, our
history, and
our love is real, we
say a prayer, and
she’s gone, off
now to Calvary, I
hope one day we’ll
go together, and
watch the sun set, I
look down, and
whilst she spoke, I
drew, pencil on paper, a
picture of her face
from memory

state of Grace

even with
His love
i still feel a
demon on
my back
its claws
digging
deep into
my flesh
holding me
from His Grace
drowning me
in guilt
telling me
i should kill myself
wrestling with
that demon daily
as i strive on
still yearning
to see the face of God

it will be morning

the light
that wouldn’t come
rises
unwilling,
at first,
it lingers,
just a haze

but do you
remember the
preceding hours
when we talked
talked so much
we ran out of words
and there wasn’t
anything more
I could tell you
and there wasn’t
anything more
you could tell me

so we sat, drank,
exchanged glances
and knowing smiles

you flicked
through scripture
quoting stories,
poems, songs

and now exhausted
I ask if I can sleep
on your couch

you tell me there’s
fresh coffee for later

and go to bed

leaving me to
imagine that you
placed a kiss
on my cheek

bite

seized
by a
fevered
grip

your body
dragged
with heels
kicking
across a
dusty
wooden floor

light
diminishes
as a
dark
arid
environment
prevails

hands tied
behind back
to a
rickety
wooden
chair

cold
sweat
tr
   ic
      kl
         ing

temptation
rises within
as in front
of you
that sin
your sin
the one
that gets
you
every time

the one
you can’t
shake off

winking
licking
its lips
giving an
over
friendly wave

it waits
for you
to lean
forward and

bite

James D. Quinton is a British writer. His poetry and short stories have reached audiences all around the world. A poetry collection, Street Psalms and a novel, Touch, will be published by Xplosive Books this year. He is 30 and lives in Suffolk, England.